Colorado economic development officials and General Electric have managed to keep the curtain closed tight on the cha-cha-cha underway to win the coveted PrimeStar Solar manufacturing plant and the 400 or so high-value jobs that would come with it.

Landing the plant would provide an important counterpoint to the sweeping, yet light-on-benchmarks “Blueprint Colorado” ecodevo plan release in July by the state. This is an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance” we need to win.
Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a meeting with Denver Post reporters and editors on July 20 that New York and Florida have aggressive incentive packages in front of a GE site selection committee and Colorado’s proposal, while not as rich, could bust a competitive move or two.

No word on when the decision will be made – but it’s got to be close.
GE, which owns PrimeStar Solar, certainly is familiar with Colorado’s balance sheet. Working with the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Lab, the company made a technological breakthrough at PrimeStar’s Arvada test plant that emboldened it enough to announce in April that it wants to build a commercial-scale solar panel manufacturing plant.
Hick said he chatted with GE’s top government affairs guy about the plant and their mutual interest in the high-speed game of squash during the recent Western Governors’ Association meeting. Let’s hope that executive – and the selection committee – also have a hankering for Railyard Ale, one of Hick’s signature malts when he ran the Wynkoop Brewing Co., and available only in Colorado.

David joined The Denver Post in 1999, his second go-round in the Mile High City. Since then he’s covered a variety of topics – from human services to consumer affairs – most always with an investigative bent. Currently he does investigations and banking.